The Toronto Marlies have won the American Hockey League’s Calder Cup.
Vinni Lettieri’s power-play goal in the second period stood as the winner as the Marlies edged the Chicago Wolves 4-3 in Toronto on Friday in Game 5 of the best-of-seven championship series.
Toronto won the series 4-1 for the team’s second AHL title. The Marlies also won in 2018.
Benoit-Olivier Groulx and Jacob Quillan also scored in the second period for Toronto, the minor-league affiliate of the NHL’s Maple Leafs. Landon Sim had a goal with 28 seconds left in the first to cut Chicago’s lead to 2-1.
Artur Akhtyamov made 27 saves in net for the win.
Akhtyamov won the Jack A. Butterfield Trophy as the most valuable player of the AHL playoffs. The 24-year-old Akhtyamov, a fourth-round pick by the Toronto Maple Leafs in the 2020 NHL Draft, went 15-7 with a 2.22 goals-against average, a .923 save percentage and two shutouts in 22 playoff appearances.
Felix Under Sorum scored twice and added an assist for the Wolves. Josiah Slavin had the other goal, and Cayden Primeau stopped 19 shots in net.
Toronto went 16-8 through the post-season, winning 10 of its last 13 games. The Marlies defeated the Rochester Americans (2-1), the Laval Rocket (3-2), the Cleveland Monsters (3-2) and the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins (4-2) before eliminating Chicago to become just the third team in AHL history to win five series in one playoff year.
